A BRIEF SCREEN FOR PANIC DISORDER

Panic disorder is associated with excessive social morbidity and financial burden. Delay in its diagnosis is a serious problem confronting the health care system. Screening instruments can be used to alert clinicians to the presence of an illness. In the current study, 143 patients presenting to an outpatient anxiety disorders clinic completed both self-report scales and a structured clinical interview. The 16-item Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) selectively discriminates panic disorder subjects from subjects with other anxiety disorders in an anxiety clinic population. Further analyses demonstrate that a scale composed of merely four ASI items also discriminates panic disorder patients with equal sensitivity and specificity to the overall instrument. This new composite scale, named Brief Panic Disorder Screen (BPDS), will allow rapid identification of those patients who may benefit from more extensive evaluation for the presence of panic disorder.